The CHIGAMIK Waypoint Health Hub is a collaborative project to co-locate the services of CHIGAMIK Community Health Centre and Waypoint’s outpatient and community services in one central location on downtown Midland.

The health hub model aligns with the Ontario Community Hubs Action Plan, and co-locating mental health care and primary care services meets the Action Plan’s criteria for responding to local needs for families to access a range of services, improving access to a broader range of wrap-around services for better outcomes, and reducing duplication with more efficient and sustainable services.

Following the many required approvals, a ground blessing and sod-turning ceremony was held in October 2017, after which, construction on the site began in earnest.

Staff input is helping to refine the space design and talks are ongoing to develop strategies to increase collaboration and improve access, and to determine how the two organizations will share common spaces such as physiotherapy, conference and gathering rooms, the community kitchen and youth programming space.

Several rooms will be designated for traditional Indigenous healing and spiritual care, and the entire facility is intended to create a welcoming place for clients, staff and the community. Washrooms are gender neutral and common spaces will accommodate the particular needs of children, patients, and people with physical challenges.

In May 2017, we were excited to receive news that the hub will also be the site of a new Youth Wellness Hub for North Simcoe. Youth wellness hubs are walk-in centres where young people ages 12-25 can get one-stop access to the mental health support services they need. One of only six approved across the province, our application was successful thanks to the collaborative efforts of the partners including the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN Child and Adolescent Mental Health Steering Committee, Waypoint, CHIGAMIK, and New Path as the regional lead agency for children and youth mental health.